1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gas sensor element for detecting a gas to be measured, a gas sensor having the gas sensor element, and a method of manufacturing the gas sensor element.
2. Description of the Related Art
Patent Document 1, for example, discloses a gas sensor element having a layer (a composite ceramic layer, described below) configured such that a solid electrolyte body (an electrolyte portion, described below) is disposed in a through hole formed in an insulating member (a surrounding portion, described below).
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (kokai) No. 2007-278941
3. Problems to be Solved by the Invention
In the gas sensor element of Patent Document 1, the outer perimetric surface (an electrolyte outer-perimetric-surface, described below) of the solid electrolyte body (electrolyte portion) is in contact with the inner perimetric surface (a through hole inner-perimetric-surface, described below) of the through hole which is substantially perpendicular to the surface of the insulating member (surrounding portion). Accordingly, since the contact length along the thickness direction between the electrolyte outer-perimetric-surface of the electrolyte portion and the through hole inner-perimetric-surface of the surrounding portion is short, in the course of manufacturing the gas sensor element, a sufficient contact length along the thickness direction fails to be secured between the electrolyte outer-perimetric-surface of the electrolyte portion and the through hole inner-perimetric-surface of the surrounding portion. This potentially results in the occurrence of a problem in which the opposite main surfaces of the electrolyte portion communicate with each other through a gap formed between the electrolyte outer-perimetric-surface and the through hole inner-perimetric-surface.